Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
DJIA	12,454.80	-74.92	-0.60%
S&P 500	1,317.82	-2.86	-0.22%
Nasdaq	2,837.53	-1.85	-0.07%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
STOXX 50	2,161.87	+5.35	0.25%
FTSE 100	5,351.53	+1.48	0.03%
DAX	6,339.94	+24.05	0.38%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
Nikkei	8,580.39	+17.01	0.20%
TOPIX	722.11	-0.14	-0.02%
Hang Seng	18,713.40	+47.01	0.25%

Imax Gains After Daily Mail Reports Sony May Make $40 a Share Takeover Bid

By Hugo Miller - 2010-12-31T21:42:32Z

Imax Corp., the operator of large- screen movie theaters, climbed 4.5 percent in Nasdaq trading after the Daily Mail reported Sony Corp. may be preparing to bid more than $40 a share for the company.

Imax climbed $1.21 to $28.07 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Shares of the Mississauga, Ontario- based company more than doubled this year after almost tripling in 2009.

There are rumors of interest from Sony, the Daily Mail reported, without citing anyone. Imax is keen on agreeing to a deal with Tokyo-based Sony, the U.K. newspaper said.

Imax, which introduced its giant-screen technology in 1970, has parlayed its expertise into distribution deals with major cinema chains including Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc., gaining a share of their box-office receipts from 3-D Hollywood blockbusters. That helped the company report a profit in 2009, reversing three years of losses.

Imax said it isn’t aware of any corporate developments to account for the trading activity in its stock. The company said it wouldn’t comment further.

Lisa Gephardt, a Sony spokeswoman in New York, said the company doesn’t comment on market rumor or speculation. Sony makes movies through its Sony Pictures division and also sells televisions, video-game consoles and electronic book readers.

“We see very little merit in this speculation and take it more as an action taken on the last day of trading to boost performance,” Eric Wold, an analyst at Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. in New York, said in a research note today. He has a “neutral” rating on Imax.

The Daily Mail also cited Walt Disney Co. as a possible bidder for Imax. Burbank, California-based Disney isn’t planning to make an offer, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. Disney declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ville Heiskanen at vheiskanen@bloomberg.net